BentleyFlying Spur W12 S

2017 Bentley Flying Spur W12 S First Drive

Buying a Bentley isn’t just about owning a fancy car, it’s about access to discovering a certain way of life. There’s something about this classic British brand that you just don’t feel in the same way with a mere Mercedes or a Porsche.

The W12 S, with its 635hp, is the sportiest representative of the Flying Spur range, rendered even more exclusive than usual through a partnership with French luxury company Lalique to sell 12 examples of a unique perfume box called the Black Cristal Edition. The price of this one-of-a-kind scent? £17,500 – definitely Bentley territory.

The Flying Spur has been around since 2013 – the second generation of the Continental Flying Spur, introduced in 2005 as a four-door saloon version of Bentley’s then successful new Continental Coupe, which has captured the hearts of footballers across the globe. The Spur is also a prestigious competitor of the Audi A8, BMW 7 Series and Mercedes S-Class. If you want to get into serious luxury territory the Bentley Mulsanne tops out the Bentley collection, beginning around £230,000 – £60,000 higher than even our top-spec Flying Spur W12 S.

Like a finely ageing wine, the Flying Spur only seems to get more charismatic the longer it is on sale. Its elegant lines are distinctly Bentley, yet as Crispin Marshfield – responsible for exterior design at Bentley – explained, the work done on the sides of the W12 S model makes this a Flying Spur like no other.